Isn't Lipnitskaya pretty much almost caught up with Caro and Mao in PCS? Is she going to lose some over the next two seasons? My guess is Yulia will lose TES and gain PCS quicker than Gracie can spell it. Just my opinion.

I do think her PCS will go up but I really hope she makes improvements, particularly in her presentation. As TSL said, Gracie is still very pageant-like with her artistry and presentation. It's a huge step up from the blank-faced listless way she used to skate but she does need to keep improving.

I think having a full year with Frank and a summer working with two tailor made programs instead of one revamped trainwreck and a rush job one will make a difference for her. Hopefully SOI will help her learn to connect with the audience better and really project.

I can't see her not winning at least one event next season but stranger things have happened. She's at the front of the pack for now but if Polina starts out-performing her, I wouldn't be surprised if the standings flip-flopped.

Agree with this. It isn't important to peak at the beginning of the season. Kostner rarely skated well in the GP, and in fact skated rather poorly early on. But by Euros, she began to hit her stride and was ready to peak at Worlds. This season, she reached her peak at Sochi and was clearly off her best at Worlds. Sotnikova had a rough early season this past year, struggling through the GP, making the GPF but bombing there. She then won Nationals and Euros before her OGM at Sochi.

But Kostner has been a well-established skater since 2004-2005 when she became a world medalist. The judges would naturally not hold a weak GP season against her as long as she gets better throughout the season.

For a skater who has never been a world medalist but wants to become a world medalist--or a world champion--then they'd better look good on the GP. You don't have to win both events, but you'd better show quality programs and some decent skating--and be fairly consistent and improve from there on out.

That said, I don't think it's the end of the world for Gracie to not win a GP. If she does well and is consistent and improves with each outing and has good programs, then that's certainly good enough to build momentum for Nationals and Worlds. 4CCs is an opportunity to build momentum that the American skaters didn't have this year.

Isn't Lipnitskaya pretty much almost caught up with Caro and Mao in PCS? Is she going to lose some over the next two seasons? My guess is Yulia will lose TES and gain PCS quicker than Gracie can spell it. Just my opinion.

I'll be honest, Gracie wasn't on my radar until Nationals this year. I don't know anything about her beyond Nationals, Sochi and Worlds but looking at her skills and on paper, I think she's easily #1 for the US for the next quad. She's very neat and tidy on technique, she spins very well and she can work on bigger PCS #s. 4th in Sochi, 4th in the world... she's headed in the right direction! Even if she doesn't win GP gold, I think she can definitely medal and qualify for the final.

I'm guessing she'll remain competitive, in the top envelope, and keeps getting sent to GP events!

She's still relatively new as a senior lady; hopefully she'll have a chance to develop as a skater before being written off. She has a lot of potential, as does Polina, Ashley, and probably some up-and-coming juniors totally off our radar as of right now.

The flood of very young Russian skaters is exciting, but at the same time it seems as though this is causing people to expect an awful lot of ladies skaters at a pretty young age.